Bruised
by bbfan
Summary: Gibbs is injured on the job. Abby helps him out. One-shot.


DISCLAIMER: NCIS and its characters are the property of DPB and CBS. This story was written for entertainment purposes. No money involved what so ever. No copyright infringement is intended.  
>TITLE: Bruised<br>AUTHOR: bbfan  
>SUMMARY: Gibbs gets hurt on the job. Abby takes over his care. One-shot<br>CATEGORY: Romance/Angst  
>SPOILERS: None<br>PAIRING: Gibbs/Abby  
>RATING: K+<br>WARNINGS: None  
>AUTHORS NOTES: Thanks to AngelQueen for the beta. This is for the GibbsAbby Shipper Forum Hiatus 2011 prompt: bruise. Feedback much appreciated!

The mood in the lab was foreboding, apprehensive, tense-filled. The adjectives could go on forever, Gibbs thought, but Abby was persistent. She had conned Ducky, who had as hard a time saying no to her as he did, into letting her tend to his clean-up.

As he sat patiently on her stool, he watched as she dipped the washcloth into the warm, soapy water, which he knew would eventually turn a pinkish red as she wiped the dried blood from his face. She wrung out the excess water with her strong, but trembling hands and then stepped in between his knees. Her gunpowder perfume fanned over him, making his insides feel funny. Slowly, she washed off the remaining blood. There was no eye contact, no words, no nothing from her except fierce determination to finish the unpleasant task.

Gibbs noticed that occasionally she would wince when he did, as she came close to the huge bruise and cut that laid just below his left eye. The swelling was getting worse. By morning his eye would be completely swollen shut, no matter how much ice they put on it. Still, this wasn't the first time he'd gotten a black eye on the job, and he knew it wouldn't be the last.

Two hours earlier, his face came in contact with the largest fist he'd ever seen. The Marine Gunny Sergeant in question was huge, over six-and-a-half feet and two hundred fifty pounds of pure muscle and adrenaline. The man had just attacked and murdered his wife's lover, a fellow marine and a so-called friend. Not only was a family torn apart by the wife's indiscretion, it was a waste of two good Marines' careers.

His cracked ribs, which were now throbbing, was a whole different story. During the take-down of the gargantuan Marine, Ziva's ninja kick missed the intended target and landed on the left side of his sternum. That stopped him cold and he had to watch as Ziva, Tony, and Tim struggle as they took the man down. After Ziva threatened to castrate him, the Marine finally gave in and let them cuff him. Their heroic effort was rewarded with an early dismissal, but a warning of an early start in the morning with their reports, soon followed.

When Ducky got a hold of him he x-rayed and scanned him to the point that he thought he would start glowing. His expert tape job was perfect, though. It held his ribs like a vice and they didn't move when he did. Abby knew about the ribs, but had yet shown any interest, which he was grateful. The bruising there was enormous.

Abby's low, shaky voice brought him back to the here and now.

"This is going to hurt," she warned, barely above a whisper.

Gibbs knew what was coming. The cut had to be cleaned out. It wasn't deep enough for stitches, but was bad enough that it had to be attended to. He steeled himself from the pain, as she ripped open a packet containing an antiseptic cleaning cloth. Gently, she laid it on the cut and pressed. The burning sensation made his eyes water.

"Damn…" he hissed, trying not to pull away, but failed miserably.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, her voice trembling with emotion.

"S'not your fault," he moaned. He wondered when the damn pain meds Ducky had given him were going to kick in.

She didn't respond, but continued to press and wipe until she was satisfied that the cut was thoroughly cleaned. When she threw away the pad, Gibbs noticed it was crimson red from his blood. He really should've insisted that Ducky finish with the clean-up so she wouldn't have to do it, but she'd insisted. She was as stubborn as he was.

Abby placed a butterfly band-aid on the cut, stepped slightly back and away from him, grabbing her remote as she did. Holding it over her shoulder, she aimed it at the security camera and turned it off.

"Take off your shirt." Her request came in a low voice, her eyes held purposely away from his.

"Abbs…" Gibbs hesitated, but did as she asked, knowing full well that she wasn't going to give up until she saw all of his injuries.

Gibbs heard her gasp and then watched as she slowly reached out with her hand and tenderly traced the spreading bruise that had shown itself above Ducky's superb tape job. It didn't hurt too much, but he couldn't help but hold his breath.

Quickly and without saying a word, she grabbed the bowl of dirty water and turned to walk away. Before she could get too far, Gibbs got up from the stool, gently reached out and grabbed her by the arm, stopping her.

As Abby turned around, he took the bowl from her hands and laid it back down on her work station. Then just as gently, he lifted her face so that her eyes met his. What he saw took his breath away. The pain he felt was two-fold in her expressive eyes. The tears shone brightly and started to fall.

"God, Abbs… c'mere," he said.

"Your ribs," she whispered, her voice quivering.

"Don't care," he answered.

Abby still hesitated, so he stepped closer, reaching out gingerly, taking her hands into his. He placed them around his waist and then pulled her softly to him. He just held her as she cried, letting her pinned-up emotions escape.

After a few minutes, she finally pulled her head up from his chest. Her eyes were red-rimmed from crying and her face was wet from the tears that had fallen. She was beautiful and he absolutely loved and adored her. Slowly, he lowered his head until his lips were only a millimeter from hers.

"Thank you," he whispered, but before she could say another word, his lips captured hers with what would become a searing, yet gentle, kiss. It was their first of what he hoped would be many. Her response set his mind at ease.

Breathlessly, they parted and Abby rewarded him with a beautiful and genuine smile.

"Take me home, Abbs?" Gibbs asked, struggling with his shirt.

"Can I stay?" she countered, pulling his shirt down and then leading him to the door.

Gibbs gave her a smile. "I think that can be arranged," he said, leaning in giving her a quick kiss as they walked through the door.

The end.


End file.
